Join Building American Pop program creator and Chicago a cappella singer, Joe Labozetta for a virtual conversation with noted music journalist Ken Emerson, author of “Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era,” a key source that shaped the narrative of our upcoming concert. Joe and Ken will discuss the history of the Brill Building and its influence on pop music, in advance of our upcoming performances of Brill era hits.
Ken Emerson has written widely about popular music and culture since the 1960s. His articles and reviews have appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal. He is the former articles editor of The New York Times Magazine and op-ed editor of New York Newsday, and the author of Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture and coauthor of Stephen Foster, a documentary film for the PBS series The American Experience.
Joe Labozetta has been a member of Chicago a cappella since 2011 and created the musical program and arrangements for the ensemble’s upcoming concert, Building American Pop. A career ensemble musician, Joe also has an instrumental background. Although perfectly content at a keyboard or holding a guitar or bass, small-ensemble choral music is what Joe most enjoys. Beginning as a boy soprano with the Grammy-recognized Ragazzi Boys’ Chorus in northern California, he has continued to pursue every choral niche, no matter how obscure or exotic. Some of his stylistic interests are vocal jazz, plainchant and Renaissance polyphony, overtone-singing, vocal percussion, and folksong traditions. A graduate of DePaul University’s School of Music, Joe holds the position of Director of Music at St. Josaphat Church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. When not directing church choirs or ensembles, composing or arranging hymnody, or playing pipe organ or piano, he regularly sings with Chicago a cappella, Schola Antiqua of Chicago, and His Majesty’s Men. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, The Newberry Consort, Bella Voce, William Ferris Chorale, Ensemble Alioni, and The Rookery.
The Book:
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the shock of Elvis Presley and before the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion, fourteen gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan’s legendary Brill Building and a warren of offices a bit farther uptown and composed some of the most beguiling and enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. Always Magic in the Air is the first thorough history of these renowned songwriters-tunesmiths who melded black, white, and Latino sounds, integrated audiences before America desegregated its schools, and brought a new social consciousness to pop music. Find the book on Penguin Random House, Amazon, Good Reads, Barnes & Noble, and at the Chicago Public Library.
The Concert:
Chicago a cappella tells the story of the Brill Building era at their upcoming concert, Building American Pop. Narrated by WTTW Channel 11’s Geoffrey Baer, the program includes beloved hits like “Under the Boardwalk,” “My Girl,” and “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.” Performances take place at Chicago’s Studebaker Theater (Apr. 19), Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston (Apr. 25), and the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn (Apr. 26).